The Tempest
by SilentWitnessNerd
Summary: A storm is coming and no-one can stop it, but they may be able to save the ones they love.
1. Cumulus Fractus

**Hello. I decided on trying another multichap. I have had this one playing around in my head along with another one. I chose this one over the pair of them and so here we have it. I don't know how well the idea will work but I would like your opinion.**

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><p><span>1. Cumulus Fractus.<span>

"I'm very busy, I just don't know if it will be possible." She said a hushed voice as she dressed.

"I was there for you when..."

"I don't want to talk about that. It was different, they were different circumstances." She cut the crackly voice off. "Look, I'll have to think. When do you need an answer by?"

"I'm on my way to London now."

"WHAT! NOW! Christ, look you can stay in the spare room. Stop by the lab, I'll text you the address. Ask for me at the front desk and I'll come down and I'll give you the keys."

"Thanks, Niks. I don't know how I'll repay you." and with that the caller hung up. Nikki finished getting dressed and went through to the spare room, checking her watch as she grabbed clean linin from the cupboard. 7.30, she might just make it to work in time if she made the bed up quickly. As she rushed around the spare room her mobile went, the shill trilling piercing through the quiet of the apartment. Where had she put her phone? She sighed, tucking her blonde curls behind her ears. After searching both bedrooms and the living room for her phone and having no luck she grabbed the landline and punched in the number, waiting for the sound of her phone to indicate its whereabouts. The linin cupboard. She hadn't checked there. 2 missed calls; Harry and Home.

_'Hi Nikki, you're late for work and in the past when that's happened you have been kidnaped or are ill or there is a murderer threatening your life and you haven't told Leo that you'll be late but I am starting to worry. I'm sure that you are fine but just please call me back Nikki. Please.'_

She sent a quick text to him, telling him that she was fine, and then sent off another to a different recipient with directions to the lab. She grabbed her bag and keys and jumped into her car, driving faster than the speed limit permitted all the way to the Lyell centre, running through the car park and into the building.

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><p>The lab was quiet. Too quiet for Harry's liking. Leo had an early post-mortem to complete and Nikki <em>still<em> hadn't turned up. Normally the lab would be full of banter, mainly his, but without anyone to annoy, especially Nikki, then there was no point in his rather brilliant jokes. He looked at the pile of paper aeroplanes in the corner of the room, growing bigger every three minutes as he made another and threw it. Just as his latest plane glided through the air the double doors clattered open with terrifying force, smashing a rack of test tubes and stirring the still air, offsetting the balance of the plane and crashing it on the opposite side of the room to its destination. Harry's head snapped up to the smashing glass and as he made his way gingerly round the corner he saw a petit figure crouched over the mess and picking up the shards of glass.

"Shit." She hissed and Harry could see blood dripping down into a pool by her feet. He was stunned but as the next drop fell he snapped into action, jumping forward and taking Nikki's hand, standing her up and walking her over to the sink.

"Nikki, what the hell are you doing? Storming into the lab, smashing a rack of test tubes and picking up the glass with your bare hands, that's idiotic!" He yelled as he tended her wound. She pulled her hand away and ran out of sight. Harry sighed. He had handled that completely wrong.

"What's going on? Why did I hear shouts?" Leo said as he ran into the lab, closely followed by a female DI. The older pathologist spotted the blood in the sink then the two trails of drips on the floor, one from the red pool to the sink another to the corridor leading to the bathrooms. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Nikki stormed in and knocked a rack of test tubes and started picking up the glass. It cut her. I yelled, she ran." Harry stated plainly.

"Should I go and see if she's alright?" The detective asked, her eyes those of a mother.

"No, I will." Harry said, following the trail of blood.

"But, I thought that was the way to the female toilets? Shouldn't he..."

"No. Harry is the only one who can sort her out. And generally if Nikki is crying in there people know not to use those bathrooms. It's happened before." Leo said, beginning to clear up the debris left after the previous storm.


	2. Cumulus Humilis

**Hello, thank you for reviewing. :). Sorry Hushedgreylily for my spelling mistake. I have minor dyslexia and so spelling is not exactly my forte. Anyway, here is my next chapter. FaMO should be up soon as well but I need to rewrite a couple of parts because they don't make sense. **

2. Cumulus Humilis.

"Nikki please. Look, I'm sorry. I handled that wrong. I know." Harry slid down the wall opposite the cubicle doors in the ladies loos. The only noise that could be heard was Nikki's soft sobbing from the third cubicle along. "Please say something. Please Nikki, I was just so worried about you when I got into work before you and then I just felt so relieved when you thundered in this morning but then the glass cut you and..." He gushed, looking up at the ceiling. "Nikki. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I know. Please say something, please. Just yell at me or something. I don't care just... please!" He begged, placing his head in his hands.

"Harry, I'm sorry." she whispered, barely audible. The bolt on the door slid open and Nikki stood, cradling her arm to her chest, blood staining her shirt and smeared, along with tears, on her cheeks.

"Hey, come here." The pathologist opened his arms and she folded herself into him. He took her arm and inspected at the damage, sighing at the amount of glass in the cuts. "Lets go get you cleaned up. I think that you will need stitches though, the cuts are pretty deep and you have an abundance of glass in there." Harry stood up, gathering Nikki into his arms and walking her out of the confined space and through to the lab.

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><p>"Harry, when can we get away from here?" Nikki asked as they sat in the A&amp;E waiting room. She was anxious to get away from the hospital, her dislike for the place increased by her bad mood and her eagerness to leave accelerated by her need to get back to the Lyell before her 'guest' got there.<p>

"I'll go ask how long there is left to wait." He said, walking over to the desk and talking to the receptionist on duty. They had been in the clinical white and blue waiting room for 2 hours; infants wailing; people coughing; a girl sat in the corner wrapped in a blanket and clutching a plastic bucket; a man with his arm in a temporary sling, the other cuffed to a police officer who looked like he had better things to be doing. The cast rotated every so often but the theme was the same. Harry came back and sat down next to Nikki just as a young boy was called. "They reckon that there is approximately another two hour wait." He sighed. Nikki's face fell and she groaned, slumping back into the plastic chair and kicking her heels into the floor. "If you are going to ruin their lovely linoleum flooring and act like a poorly controlled child then I will go back and tell her that our boss has said that he can handle any cases that come in." He started standing up.

"Wait, What?" She said, grabbing his arm with her good hand.

"I told the receptionist," Harry murmured in her ear "That we are forensic pathologists and that we may be needed to be called to a scene at any moment as our boss is at a scene right now and if there is another case then no-one will be able to go and so a murderer may get away. A doctor should be coming in a few minutes." Her eyes widened.

"Harry isn't that violating terms of contract and all sorts of other things." She hissed.

"Probably but if you don't tell then I won't tell." She hugged him, then pulled away quickly, remembering her bloodied top. "I think I might have a shirt in the car that you can change into." He smiled, knowing that Nikki wouldn't want to wear her blood stained top the drive to the lab and until she got a chance to get to the locker room, shower and change. _Stop it Harry. Those are inappropriate thoughts. She is a colleague._ He bit his lip as he tried to block out the mental images of Nikki showering.

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><p>"I look stupid." Nikki said as she walked out of the female bathrooms at the hospital, Harry's shirt swamping her.<p>

"You look beautiful." Harry said, then corrected himself, "I mean, It uh looks better on you than it does on me. uh. I can never make it look good." He stuttered, his face turning magenta. There was a silence in which both pathologists stood, looking away from each other. "Shall we go then, I want to see if my tox screen on last nights arrival has come through yet." Nikki nodded, walking behind him out of the hospital, her arm in a sling.

Both pathologists were silent on the way home, keeping their thoughts to them selves. Harry spent the drive contemplating his slip of the tongue. It hadn't happened in a while and he could usually supress his thoughts well enough. Nikki's mind was on her visitor and her mishap at the lab. She hadn't explained to him her lateness or her anger, much of which had dissipated. She also thought of Harry's comment. He had never shown any interest in her before but the remark had not been sarcastic or humorous. She didn't know. One of life's mysteries.

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><p>At the Lobby of the building that housed the Lyell centre Harry left Nikki so he could stop off at toxicology to see if his samples had been processed, whilst Nikki scanned the lobby for signs of her unwelcome visitant. Not there. She walked in the direction of the stairs when Rosalind, the receptionist, called over to her.<p>

"Dr Alexander, there is a man here to see you. He said you'd arranged it and so I sent him upstairs, I hope that was OK?" She asked, her voice faltering as she saw Nikki's face.

"Yes." The blonde said, smiling falsely at the young ginger-haired woman. Rosalind had been working there for a total of two years, strait out of university. The pathologist liked her, had drinks with her a couple of times. She knew that the receptionist's father had wanted her to go into marine biology, had paid for all the university fees, but Rosalind never wanted to. After meeting her fiancé in a costa she dropped out and moved in with him, arranging their marriage for just as soon as her boyfriend finished his degree in psychology. "Thank you."


	3. Cumulus Congestus

3. Cumulus Congestus.

"Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?" Leo asked the stranger in the waiting area outside the lab. "I'm sure that she'll be back soon. There was and accident this morning. Do you want to wait in my office?" The man shook his head and smiled.

"No, it's fine, I can wait here." He smiled again.

"Remind me why you are here?" Leo asked as he started to walk through the double doors.

"I'm visiting Nikki. She said she would give me the spare keys." The guy said, flashing a brilliant smile.

"Oh, well, they should be back soon."

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><p>Nikki sighed as she rounded the corner and caught sight of her boss talking with a sandy haired man. Leo walked through the double doors and she rushed up the corridor to the man. He was at a glance a similar age to herself with pale grey eyes. He wore a mint green polo shirt and khaki shorts. His skin was tanned and he sat with a tattered blue suitcase next to him. "Niks!" He grinned and stood up as she approached.<p>

"Why the HELL are you here?" She hissed, her face hard. The painkillers the hospital had given her were ineffective and the sling was annoying her.

"You said too..." He said, confusion clear in his voice.

"No, I meant here. In London. Back in my life." She turned as a lab tech hurried past. She stormed though into the lab and up to Leo. "Can I borrow your office?" She asked, walking in when he nodded.

"Everything okay?" his expression morphed into one of worry when he saw the trailing man sheepishly follow.

"Fine Leo. Thank you." She smiled and shut the door. "Why are you here Andrew? No lies this time."

"Long story, Niks, a very long story."

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><p>"Leo, who's Nikki talking to?" Harry asked as he walked to his desk, addressing the man who sat opposite.<p>

"I don't know but she doesn't seem pleased to see him whoever he is." Leo looked over to his office, where the blond was talking to the stranger. They were both seated at either side of the desk, Nikki's face a solemn mask. "He said he was visiting her, came to pick up the key apparently. Maybe he is why she was so agitated this morning."

"She was fidgety the whole time we spent in A&E. I thought we would have to pay for new linoleum flooring to replace the one she dug holes into with her heels. Do you think he's a boyfriend?" Harry asked, his jaw set in a strait line.

"Harry." the professor cautioned. "How should I know whether he is a boyfriend. How was the hospital?" He diverted, not wanting one of Harry's awkward, inappropriate conversations.

"Painful." the young man said, rubbing his face.

"For her or you?"

"Both."

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><p>"So I have told you why I'm here. Why don't you tell me why your arm is in a sling and why you are in a guys shirt, I mean, you always did have an eclectic taste in fashion but this is bad even for you." He joked, laughing at his own jest. She didn't.<p>

"Your phone call made me late for work. I was in a bad mood. I knocked some test tubes over and they cut me. I needed stitches. My blouse was covered in blood so Harry gave me his spare." She paraphrased, not in the mood to talk about herself.

"Harry? Who's he? Boyfriend?" She scowled at him.

"He's a..." she paused. Was he a friend or colleague first. "Friend. And colleague." She passed him the keys to her flat. "I sent the address in a text to you."

"No introductions to your friends?"

"No. You are not to talk to them, not to answer my phone or enter my bedroom. The spare room is the one with the open door, I changed the sheets this morning." she ushered him out and through the lab until they got to the double doors, where Harry stood, his arms crossed, eyebrows raised. "What do you want?" She asked, keeping between the two males.

"Will you introduce us to your friend Nikki?" Harry asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"No. Are you training to be a security guard?" Nikki asked, her smile not touching her eyes.

"Thought I'd give it a go." He shrugged.


	4. Cumulus Mediocris

4. Cumulus Mediocris

"Original house rules apply. Don't go through others stuff!" Nikki yelled as she took the box of photos away from him. She threw the box on the table and turned to him. "I presume you found your way ok?" She asked curtly, removing her coat and hanging it in the coat stand.

"Fine," He smiled and leaned back in the chair, flinging his arms behind his head. "How was your day? I presume you had a bad one?"

"Yes, no thanks to you." She snapped as she turned around and covered her face with her hands.

"You have a lovely place here, Niks." Andrew said, turning his charm on her.

"Yeah, I worked hard for it. And don't flatter me like you would one of your 'female companions', because I'm not one of them." She snarled, looking at her face.

"No, you aren't. You never were." He sighed, his smile gone and replaced with a solemn look. "You were a friend. I cared for you when..."

"Shut up!" She screamed. "Shut up and never mention that time, Ok?"

"Have you spoken to anybody about it since then?" He asked, his face full of worry. "I told you not to bottle it up, did you?"

"I'm not talking to you about this." She muttered. At that moment there was a knock on the door. She smiled absentmindedly, she knew that knock. Then her face fell. "Harry, what are you doing here?" She sighed as she pulled the door open.

"Nice to see you too." He muttered. "Can I not visit my bestest friend in the whole wide world from time to time?" He grinned like a child. "I actually came because you are still wearing my shirt." She looked down. There had been no time for her to change at the lab.

"Sorry, it's got bloodstains on. Can I buy you a new one?" She said apologetically. He nodded.

"Can I come in?" He asked, prompting her.

"Harry, I...Not really. I just..." She thought, trying desperately to come up with an excuse.

"Niks, is that the guy from your work. What was his name? Harvey? Henry?" A voice called from the lounge.

"Harry." The pathologist himself called back, raising his eyebrows at Nikki and smiling. "May I meet your boyfriend? He knows my name so I should at least introduce myself." Harry justified, looking innocent.

"No, please don't..." Nikki gave a futile attempt to block Harry's path. He walked through and looked the man in the armchair over. He had picked up the box of photos again and was studying one very carefully. "Andrew!" She snatched the photo away from him and placed it and the box back on the coffee table.

"Niks, that's a lovely photo! Why don't you frame it?" He cried, pointing at the photo in her hand.

"You have no right!" She yelled.

"Actually, I took that photo so I do have rights. I studied law, remember."

"Yeah, if I remember correctly, you failed as well!" She glared, turning away from him, finding Harry facing her.

"Calm down. I'm fairly certain that Leo doesn't want to have to deal with any murders tonight." he said and she smiled. "See, that's better. Now, would you like me to get you a drink?"

"There's a bottle in the fridge." She grinned, "Use the one we opened last Friday," She turned back to Andrew then spun back. "Oh, and Harry, Andrew isn't my boyfriend."

"And you are sure that _he _is not your boyfriend?" Andrew whispered and raised his eyebrows.

"Certain."


End file.
